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hiphopismylife 14 years, 11 months ago.
providencefriars1This is the start of a 25 part series breakingdown the top NCAA teams in the country for the upcoming season. This was written by Elena Bergeron of ESPN the Magazine and ESPN insider. This was a very good breakdown that clearly describes everything you’ll need to know about the Huskies in 11-12.
Kemba Walker is gone. Any conversation about this UConn team, from now until the first jump ball in November, starts with that fact. That’s the fallout of a remarkable postseason run during which the Huskies jelled around their incandescent star to storm through the Big East tournament and then slog out one of the lowest-scoring title games in the modern era. But for all the confetti that’s fallen in their honor, the remaining pack of Huskies realized that the celebration had to end.
"After we won I took a week off and then it was back to the gym," says junior forward Alex Oriakhi. "We were happy but I said to my teammates, ‘Let’s not let it get to us.’ [Having won a title] will make us work harder because when the season starts we’re going to get everybody’s best game. There’s no more Kemba, so everybody has to produce this year."
To varying degrees, the remaining Huskies all had to find ways to produce last year, too. Last season they were an especially young team; with an average 0.94 seasons of experience, Connecticut relied on three freshmen (Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb and Roscoe Smith) by season’s end. Throughout the 2010-11 season, however, coach Jim Calhoun went with 10 different lineups and fiddled with the rotation as late as the Big East tournament. And the kids didn’t disappoint. It was Lamb who took over in the second half of the title game against Butler, though he hardly got off the bench at the Maui Invitational before Thanksgiving. Forward Tyler Olander started and busted Syracuse’s zone in the Big East tournament a day after he got a DNP versus Georgetown.
This year’s baby-faced squad will have to prove that they can be consistent contributors now that Walker’s not there with his game-winning theatrics.That they coalesced in March was fortunate. That they played well together at all is kind of miraculous (the Huskies ranked 14th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per Ken Pomeroy) given all the lineup changes. Despite the title, this is still largely the team that finished ninth in the Big East’s regular season and was utterly dependent on its pint-sized star. Now that March’s magic has run out, what happens next?
Welcome to Campus
Ryan Boatright, 6-foot, guard
No. 72 on ESPNU's top 100
That height listing is generous, to say the least, for the incoming freshman. But however shy he is of that 6-foot marking, Boatright more than makes up for it in bunnies. Illinois' co-Mr. Basketball, Boatright committed to USC in the eighth grade (to then-coach Tim Floyd), then verballed to West Virginia last fall (he reopened his recruitment when Bob Huggins signed another point guard) and landed in Storrs a few days thereafter. Napier's likely backup, Boatright has already challenged Lamb to an on-campus dunk-off that's made the Internet rounds.DeAndre Daniels, 6-8, forward
The lanky wing was a Texas commit until last summer and when he reopened his recruitment, Kentucky, Duke and Florida all came calling. Since Jamal Coombs-McDaniel has transferred, Daniels will get a go on the perimeter, where his length should help defensively and his shooting ability can pose mismatches for opponents. He can also slide over to the 4 and provide some weakside help for Oriakhi.Hole to Fill: Go-to Scorer
There's a Kemba-sized opening for a go-to point producer. Lamb showed that he could carry the scoring mantle over the last few games of the season when Walker slowed (UConn played 41 total games last season, a modern-day record). The sophomore guard had a star turn for the under-19 national team at the World Championship in Latvia earlier this month, scoring 35 against Lithuania (including a game winner) and leading the team with 16.2 points per game. But the team's disappointing fifth-place finish helped convince Lamb to come back to campus to work on his handle and getting his shot off the dribble -- all the things Walker was best at.
New Role: Shabazz Napier
OK, so it's not an entirely new role since UConn's most effective offensive lineups featured Napier as lead guard with Walker running off the ball, or picking up the rock once Napier got the team into an offensive set. But the Big East all-rookie selection didn't start a single game last season and settled into his niche as a sixth man, providing a spark off the bench for around 20 minutes per game. His 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game were second only to Walker. Streaky and emotional but with game-changing speed, this season Napier will be a full-time point and a mentor to Boatright. "As he goes, we go," says Oriakhi. "He's going to be our floor general this year. I think, as far as leadership this year, it's me and Shabazz." To bone up for the job, Napier spent the end of June at the Deron Williams Skills Academy and has been in the gym adding muscle to prep for extended minutes.
Summer School
Oriakhi turned down an invite to try out for the 2011 USA Basketball Men's World University Games team at the end of July, opting instead for summer school and on-campus workouts. In Storrs, the junior big man has been working on improving his 15-foot jumper and adding post moves in the hopes of a more consistent season. "Whenever I go out there and play as hard as I can, I feel I'm one of the best," he says. "Anytime I didn't it was pretty ugly for me."
Meanwhile, the whole team has been getting in regular pickup games at Gampel Pavillion and popped up at the Hartford Pro-Am throughout the summer, with Lamb and Smith both putting up 40-plus-point games. There, the hometown crowd was shocked to see that the local Olander (he's from Mansfield, Conn.) bulked up to 240 pounds. Lightly used wing Niels Giffey, who popped up with a 20-minute, six-rebound performance in the championship game against Butler, has been in his native Germany training with the country's under-20 national team.
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